openclaw/docs/providers/cerebras.md

summary, title, read_when

summary	title	read_when
Cerebras setup (auth + model selection)	Cerebras	You want to use Cerebras with OpenClaw You need the Cerebras API key env var or CLI auth choice

Cerebras provides high-speed OpenAI-compatible inference on custom inference hardware. OpenClaw includes a bundled Cerebras provider plugin with a static four-model catalog.

Property	Value
Provider id	cerebras
Plugin	bundled, enabledByDefault: true
Auth env var	CEREBRAS_API_KEY
Onboarding flag	--auth-choice cerebras-api-key
Direct CLI flag	--cerebras-api-key <key>
API	OpenAI-compatible (openai-completions)
Base URL	https://api.cerebras.ai/v1
Default model	cerebras/zai-glm-4.7

Getting started

Create an API key in the [Cerebras Cloud Console](https://cloud.cerebras.ai).

openclaw onboard --auth-choice cerebras-api-key

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --auth-choice cerebras-api-key \
  --cerebras-api-key "$CEREBRAS_API_KEY"

export CEREBRAS_API_KEY=csk-...

</CodeGroup>

```bash openclaw models list --provider cerebras ```

The list should include all four bundled models. If `CEREBRAS_API_KEY` is unresolved, `openclaw models status --json` reports the missing credential under `auth.unusableProfiles`.

Non-interactive setup

openclaw onboard --non-interactive \
  --mode local \
  --auth-choice cerebras-api-key \
  --cerebras-api-key "$CEREBRAS_API_KEY"

Built-in catalog

OpenClaw ships a static Cerebras catalog that mirrors the public OpenAI-compatible endpoint. All four models share a 128k context and 8,192 max-output tokens.

Model ref	Name	Reasoning	Notes
cerebras/zai-glm-4.7	Z.ai GLM 4.7	yes	Default model; preview reasoning model
cerebras/gpt-oss-120b	GPT OSS 120B	yes	Production reasoning model
cerebras/qwen-3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507	Qwen 3 235B Instruct	no	Preview non-reasoning model
cerebras/llama3.1-8b	Llama 3.1 8B	no	Production speed-focused model

Cerebras marks `zai-glm-4.7` and `qwen-3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507` as preview models, and `llama3.1-8b` plus `qwen-3-235b-a22b-instruct-2507` are documented for deprecation on May 27, 2026. Check Cerebras' supported-models page before relying on them for production workloads.

Manual config

The bundled plugin usually means you only need the API key. Use explicit models.providers.cerebras config when you want to override model metadata or run in mode: "merge" against the static catalog:

{
  env: { CEREBRAS_API_KEY: "csk-..." },
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      model: { primary: "cerebras/zai-glm-4.7" },
    },
  },
  models: {
    mode: "merge",
    providers: {
      cerebras: {
        baseUrl: "https://api.cerebras.ai/v1",
        apiKey: "${CEREBRAS_API_KEY}",
        api: "openai-completions",
        models: [
          { id: "zai-glm-4.7", name: "Z.ai GLM 4.7" },
          { id: "gpt-oss-120b", name: "GPT OSS 120B" },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

If the Gateway runs as a daemon (launchd, systemd, Docker), make sure `CEREBRAS_API_KEY` is available to that process — for example in `~/.openclaw/.env` or through `env.shellEnv`. A key exported only in an interactive shell will not help a managed service unless the env is imported separately.

Related

Choosing providers, model refs, and failover behavior. Reasoning effort levels for the two reasoning-capable Cerebras models. Agent defaults and model configuration. Auth profiles, switching models, and resolving "no profile" errors.